Cemetery Archives: Streatham Cemetery

Streatham is one of the nicer cemeteries in this corner of London: small, but nicely set out with curving paths, and a pair of chapels with beautiful porches, separated from each other by a couple of hundred yards. Opened in 1892, it's now mostly closed to new burials, though some interments in existing graves do still happen: two last week, but none this, I'm told.

The source of my information on burials is the excellent Barry, employee of Wandsworth Council, who shares with Jean Pateman the dubious honour of being the only cemetery personnel who've trying to stop me taking photos. Assured that I wasn't taking pictures of new graves (well, there aren't any) or inscriptions newer than 100 years or actual mourners, he kindly let me carry on. He also informed me about Streatham's tragedy: the schoolchild who during one night decapitated a number of the anthropomorphic statues in the cemetery. She was caught - apparently - with a store of angel heads beneath her bed, but was too young to be prosecuted.

Visiting: Earlsfield rail station or Tooting tube, and then buses 44, 77 or 270, which all stop outside the cemetery. Probably try to avoid Wandsworth Council staff, but there were absolutely no mourners there when I visited; I'm told there are rarely many.